Bottom well and sea water piping system for vessels

ABSTRACT

A bottom well and sea water piping system for vessels with which system the supply of sea water is provided for a vessel for engine cooling and other uses. The invention has only one bottom well preferably arranged on the vessel&#39;s middle line, and that the sea water piping as a whole is on the delivery side of submersible pumps. All the openings and lead-throughs of the bottom well are above the water level, most preferably on a covering plate. The sea water piping system is regulated by a heat regulating valve and a pressure regulating valve. The flow is regulated with an operating speed regulator for the motors of the submersible pumps by means of a frequency converter.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a bottom well and sea water piping system forvessels with which system the supply of sea water is provided for avessel for both cooling water and other use. A bottom well and sea waterpiping system for vessels comprises a bottom well, pumps, filters,motors of the pumps with a frequency converter, an inlet and an outletpiping with associated equipments, and regulating devices.

BACKGROUND

Bottom wells are conventionally arranged on the vessel's boards in sucha manner that part of the well is on the bottom side and part of theintake opening on the board side. Conventional bottom wells arenaturally arranged below the water level in such a manner that all thewater intake openings are below the water line. Bottom wells on bothboards are most often connected by a common suction piping. A connectingsuction pipe is arranged below the water level and it acts as a bypassmanifold to which pumps are connected. Filters are also arranged on thesuction pipe.

The greatest drawback of the conventionally used bottom well systems forvessels has been that the system is almost completely located below thewater level. In that case there is always a risk in connection withdisturbances and damages that water will gain access to the vessel'sinner parts. Conventional bottom well and sea water piping systemsnormally have several pipe connections to the bottom well below the sealevel. One or more suction pipes are connected to the bottom well.Furthermore, a return pipe for warmed water, an air pipe, possiblelead-throughs required by compressed air or vapour blasting andlead-throughs of a heating spiral are also connected to the bottom well.It is clear that the above-mentioned lead-throughs arranged below thewater level will always be risky. In northern conditions, in particular,bottom wells arranged on the boards are not a very good solution becauseice and ice sludge in the sea will often prevent the water intake fromthe bottom well. It has also been problematic that conventional bottomwells are placed in the most crammed place on a vessel, that is, in theforebody of the engine room. The two bottom wells there and the pipingconnecting them take an inconsiderably large space. Also, filters andthe necessary pumps have often been a problem with regard to theirlogical placing.

Conventional bottom well and sea water piping systems have also beenproblematic for users since bottom wells easily accumulate air and icebecause of the position of the wells. The removal of ice requiresadditional heating and attending to the heating. Air causes malfunctionsin the pumps and as ice accumulates in the bottom well or the filters,the flow of cooling water is prevented.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The bottom well and sea water piping system for vessels according to theinvention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and it is reliableand user-friendly. The bottom well and sea water piping system forvessels according to the invention is characterized by what is describedbelow in the characterizing part of claims.

The greatest advantages of the bottom well and sea water piping systemfor vessels according to the invention will thus be the improvement ofsecurity and the lowering of the total cost. All parts of the system,piping as well as the openings in connection with the bottom well, arearranged above the sea level so that water will not gain access to thevessel's inner parts in cases of piping or other damages. The bottomwell of the invention is in the vessel's midship, whereby it is possibleto accomplish advantageous device and piping arrangements, which willessentially reduce the number of pipes, for example. Neither is itnecessary to lay pipes transversely in the system of the invention. Theposition of the bottom well of the invention in the midship prevents airfrom entering the well, and a very slow flow in the bottom openings willnot easily draw bay ice in with them. Furthermore, there is very littleice in the bottom well situated on the vessel's middle line due to along distance from the bow. The cost of the piping of the invention islowered e.g. by that piping above the sea level does not need thesecurity systems required by the classification societies. Also, energyis saved in the system of the invention in which an optimal amount ofwater constantly flows according to each operating situation. Theregulation of the system is simple and it is performed by means of tworegulating valves with which both temperature and pressure areregulated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, the invention will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying DRAWING.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a bottom well and sea waterpiping system for vessels according to the invention.

In FIG. 1 numeral 1 refers to a submersible pump and numeral 2 to anelectric motor or the like driving the pump. The operating speed of themotors 2 is regulated by means of a frequency converter 3. Numeral 4refers to a temperature regulator and numeral 5 to a pressure regulator.The amount of return flow to the bottom well is regulated by means of aheat regulating valve 6. The amount of water discharged from the vesselis regulated with a pressure regulating valve 7. A back water valve isreferred to by numeral 8 and filters by numeral 9. A bottom well isindicated by numeral 10 and the vessel's cooling points by numeral 11.The vessel's bottom is indicated by numeral 12, a double bottom bynumeral 13 and a middle deck by numeral 14. The measurement oftemperature is performed by means of a temperature sensor 15 and themeasurement of pressure by means of a pressure sensor 16. A control andsupervision unit is indicated by numeral 17. Numeral 18 refers to aninlet piping of the system and numeral 19 to an outlet piping. Acovering plate of the well 10 is indicated by numeral 20, walls bynumeral 21 and bottom openings by numeral 22. A step ladder 23 issecured on the wall 21 of the bottom well 10 for checking andmaintenance. The cooling circuit of the main engine is equipped with anautomatic valve 24.

The bottom well and sea water piping system for vessels according to theinvention conducts the supply of sea water needed on the vessel. Asalmost all parts of the system are above the sea level, except for thebottom well 10, the maintenance of the pumps 1 is also easy to carryout. Similarly, the repair and maintenance of the piping can be donewithout docking the vessel. A sufficient amount of water is pumped bymeans of the pumps 1 to the cooling and moving water network 18, 19,depending on the purpose of use. As shown in FIG. 1, the only sea waterflow piping that extends into the bottom well are the two pipe sectionsof inlet piping system 18 which extend from the delivery side of thepumps up to the cover plate such that the submerged pumps intake seawater directly and discharge on their delivery sides to the two pipesections. The inlet water flow is regulated in the cooling and otherpoints of use 11 by means of the frequency converter 3 which controlsthe motors 2 of the pumps 1. The total control is accomplished by meansof the programmable control and supervision unit 17. The temperature ofthe cooling water of the system is measured by means of the temperaturesensor 15 with which the return flow to the bottom well 10 is controlledvia the temperature regulator 4 by means of the heat regulating valve 6.The pressure of the piping is measured by means of the pressure sensor16 with which the amount of water discharging from the vessel iscontrolled via the pressure regulator 5 by means of the pressureregulating valve 7.

The bottom well 10 arranged on the vessel's middle line may be of adesired physical shape. The well can be made highly stress-resistant byconstructing a round well. The step ladder 23 is secured on the sidewalls 21 for maintenance. The grates acting as filters 9 are easy tomaintain. It is also possible to have them detachable so that they canbe removed through the covering plate 20 for maintenance. If needed, thebottom grate can also be constructed in such a way that it may beremoved through the covering plate 20. Since the cooling of the mainengine generally consumes most energy on vessels, the sea water pipingsystem of the main engine should be equipped with a separate automaticvalve 24 which closes as the main engine is stopped. Automatic valves 24can also be mounted on other consumers of water.

It is evident that the bottom well and sea water piping system forvessels according to the invention may vary a great deal within thescope of the idea of the invention. The number of pumps in connectionwith the bottom well 10 may vary as needed. It is also possible to equipthe bottom well 10 with separate fire pumps or pumps intended for acorresponding purpose of use. Also, the position of the well 10 can varydepending on the type of vessel, and the well 10 can be placed in themost preferred position with regard to the vessel's construction. Thetypes of pipes may vary according to the purpose of use. The controlsystem of the sea water piping can also use known computer or the likesystems and gain desired advantages depending on the preferred stage ofautomation.

I claim:
 1. A bottom well and sea water piping system for vessels withwhich system the supply of sea water is provided for a vessel for bothcooling and other uses, and which comprises a bottom well (10) providedwith a bottom opening (22), walls (21) and a covering plate (20) at thetop, pumps (1) with motors (2) driving said pumps for regulating anintake flow of water, a motor speed controller (3) connected with saidmotors, filters (9) for precluding intake of debris by said pumps, aninlet piping system (18) in line with said pumps for directing sea waterto vessel points (11), and an outlet piping (19) leading a return flowof the water to be discharged from the vessel, characterized in that thebottom well (10) is arranged on the vessel's middle line or in itsproximity; that a covering plate (20) of said bottom well is positionedwith respect to the vessel so as to be above sea level; that the bottomwell walls (21) below the water sea level are uninterrupted withopenings; and that the flow of the sea water piping system in the inletand outlet piping (18, 19) is adjusted by measuring temperature andpressure, by means of which a heat regulating valve (6) of a return flowline to the bottom well (10) and a pressure regulating valve (7) of aflow line discharging from the vessel are controlled by heat andpressure regulating control devices (4, 5, 17).
 2. A bottom well and seawater piping system for vessels according to claim 1, characterized inthat the motor speed controller is a frequency converter (3) arranged toregulate the motor speed and thus the operating speed of the pumps (1),said pumps being submersible and said frequency converter beingcontrolled via a control unit (17).
 3. A bottom well and sea waterpiping system for vessels according to claim 1, characterized in thatthe system comprises only one bottom well (10), and to the coveringplate (20) of which the pumps (1) and the piping (18) are directlyconnected.
 4. A bottom well and sea water piping system for vesselsaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the amount of water flowingin the sea water piping (18, 19) is regulated by said heat and pressureregulating control devices (4, 5, 17) so as to be proportional toconsumption.
 5. A bottom well and sea water piping system for vesselsaccording to claim 1, characterized in that selected vessel points arecooling circuits which are separately closed by means of automaticvalves (24).
 6. A bottom well and sea water piping system for vesselsaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the sea water filters (9)are placed in the bottom well (10).
 7. A bottom well and sea waterpiping system for vessels according to claim 1, characterized in thatthe pumps (1) are provided with a side for water intake and a side forwater delivery, and said sea water piping system is on the delivery sideof the pumps (1).
 8. A bottom well and sea water piping system forvessels according to claim 7 wherein, except for a section of said seawater piping system extending from each of said pumps directly to saidcovering plate, said bottom well is free of sea water piping used forsupplying the vessel with sea water.
 9. A bottom well and sea waterpiping system as recited in claim 1, wherein said bottom well ispositioned at or essentially at a mid-ship location of the vessel.